This blog Haiti Solutions supports the growth of political and economic freedom, good governance and human rights in Haiti by educating Haitian citizens, parties and governments on the values and practices of democracy.

Kim Ives, an American anarchist who serves as the mouthpiece for deposed Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide, is using so-called “WikiLeaks Cables” to assassinate the character of many Haitians democrats. Unlike the New York Times, which published the original cables along with their analytical pieces, Kim Ives never published the original cables with his analysis, which is biased, and in many cases just plain fiction. The publication of the original would reveal how big of a liar he is. Haitian analysts say that Ives’s objective is to undermine all Haitian democrats’ credibility in an effort to keep Aristide from ever having to face charges for the political and economic crimes. According to Haiti’s General Accounting Office and the Haitian Unit to Fight Against Corruption (ULCC), Aristide pilfered more than $350 million during his nine years in office (see: http://www.haitipolicy.org/Lobbying7.htm ). Ives’s role as Aristide’s chief foreign propaganda agent is to taint and undermine Haiti’s judicial system so that Aristide does not face a similar fate as former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier who is facing charges for the $600 million he stole over 14 years and human rights violations. Ives is building a narrative portraying Aristide as a victim of imperialism in the US and internationally.

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Kim Ives widely known in Haiti as a pathological liar who has spent years assassinating the character of Haitian businessmen, civil society activists, political leaders, human rights and democratic activists who accurately reported and documented all of Aristide’s human rights violations, corruption, and drug trafficking. These people do not fit his vision of the world where everything is blamed upon the imperialist West.

Kim Ives has issues with his own country, and he is trying to use my country, Haiti, to address his problems. He is not alone though. He is a part of a network of foreign operatives that have had a taste of power and money in Haiti under Aristide’s rule and are doing everything they can to restore that power (see: http://www.haitipolicy.org/Lobbying7.htm ). Kim Ives is known as the one who fabricated the lie that Aristide was kidnapped in 2004 by US forces. Aristide’s own Prime Minister, Yvon Neptune, stated that claim was a complete lie (see: http://radiokiskeya.com/spip.php?article7105 ).

Kim has convenient justifications for why Haiti is in the abysmal state that it is in today explaining away decades of corrupt and violent rulers with accusations of a “vast right wing conspiracy” and imperialism in the US. Somehow the Haitian people who have directly suffered under their violent rule and have lost their friends, family and loved ones to human rights abuses and political killings are just making up stories (see: http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2011/01/duvalier-returns-to-haiti-merely-pawn.html ). The absolute, irrefutable and documented fact is that Jean Bertrand Aristide, Duvalier and Rene Preval stole the meager resources of an impoverished country. While US policy is important, it does not make or break Haiti. It cannot save us, and it cannot destroy us (see: http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2009/01/us-policy-toward-haiti-stanley-lucas.html ).

Kim Ives picks and chooses facts to reinforce his ideological bias. When the US responded in 1994 to Jean Bertrand Aristide official request to intervene militarily and reinstate him as President (see: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/60373-1), Kim Ives praised that move. But wasn’t that imperialism, Kim? When Aristide was stealing state funds from Haiti’s telephone company with New Jersey Republican Congressman James Coulter, Ives was silent (see: http://thekomisarscoop.com/tag/haiti/ ). Wasn’t that imperialism Kim? But when the US called for free and fair elections and the respect of the will of the voters or for a stop to political assassinations, drug trafficking and corruption, Kim was first in line to hurl the imperialist accusations. So for Kim, advocating for democracy and the rule of law and respect of the people is a problem, but militarily installing a leader and profiting from corruption is not.

One thing that Kim Ives must understand he will never be able to replace Haitians. He has been trying to do this for years. Apparently, we Haitians are unable to review the facts on our own, and we are too ignorant to understand why our country is in this dire situation.

Kim Ives also has a problem with me directly. I have been inconvenient to his agenda by shedding a light Aristide’s actions as well as others like Duvalier and Preval. He wants to portray me as part of an imperialist machine. For me, it has never been ideological; it is about principles and holding leaders accountable. It is about democracy and good governance. I have been told that I am undiplomatic in my advocacy of democratic principles. So be it. When I see what has happened to my country, I cannot help but tell it like it is and present the unvarnished truth.

My recent piece, The Truth About Aristide: Mob Boss or Persecuted Priest? (see: http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2011/03/truth-about-aristide-mob-boss-or.html ) has obviously angered Kim and his boss. They do not like inconvenient truth and facts, so they resort to lies. Kim claims that I had meetings in Canada with Haitian Senator Youri Latortue to plot against Aristide, which is a lie. I was invited twice to Canada during that period. The first time was for a meeting organized by the Canadian Government for the Haitian Diaspora managed by Carlo Dade. The focus was what the Haitian Diaspora could do to help Haiti’s economy. The second time I was invited to attend Prime Minister Charest’s party convention where I met the Prime Minister, members of his cabinet, members of parliament and high ranking officials from his party. The idea was what could we Haitians learn from the French Canadians to strengthen our political parties, parliament and the civil servant without reinventing the wheel. The rest is pure speculation by Ives. Reports from both events are online.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest

Hon. Bissonet President of Quebec's House

Bottom line is that Ives has an agenda and is not encumbered by the truth in advocating that agenda. As always, I welcome debate on the situation in Haiti, but you have to present facts to back up your position rather than just inventing stories.

13 fire fighters from Haiti led by Chief Ardouin Zephirin arrived in Rockville for two weeks of fire and rescue training at Montgomery County Fire Rescue Training Academy http://www.rockvilleliving.com/blog/entries/2009_05_firefighters_from_haiti

Stanley Lucas and Richard R. Bowers, Jr, Chief of the Montgomery County (MD) Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS